Untitled Document

[00:00:00] As a matter of fact, I've been here a [00:00:02] while. I can't think of a time that I [00:00:05] feel the need to object. [00:00:08] Uh, you're entitled to your opinion of [00:00:10] me. How do you get in this group of [00:00:12] eight people? Jack Smith [00:00:15] went after my phone records. I'm the [00:00:18] chairman of the judiciary committee. We [00:00:21] find out later that this uh political [00:00:24] motivated hit job against President [00:00:27] Trump by Jack Smith [00:00:30] got eight of us and there's probably [00:00:32] more. What did I do to deserve this? [00:00:34] Senator, I'll just tell you. I don't [00:00:37] know where you were at January 6. I was [00:00:39] here. I was probably the leading voice [00:00:43] on this side of the aisle to say the [00:00:46] election is over. Biden won. [00:00:50] Trump lost. But you keep talking about [00:00:53] Trump because if there's a case of Trump [00:00:58] derangement syndrome, I think it spread [00:01:00] throughout the building. I didn't riot. [00:01:04] I didn't give cover to the idea that the [00:01:07] election was stolen. Quite the opposite. [00:01:09] What was my big offense? Being a friend [00:01:12] of Trump. Now, what are you trying to do [00:01:14] here? Do the right thing? The right [00:01:16] thing is to continue to investigate Jack [00:01:20] Smith for turning the law upside down, [00:01:24] for creating a president that should [00:01:27] scare every senator in this body. The [00:01:30] law is pretty clear. There's a statute [00:01:32] on point that the Senate, even with a [00:01:35] non-disclosure order, is supposed to [00:01:39] notify the members when somebody wants [00:01:41] our phone records. We're separate branch [00:01:44] of the government and you don't seem to [00:01:46] be upset at all because they're coming [00:01:49] after Trump and a friend of Trump. Now, [00:01:52] when we do something, you know, we're [00:01:54] we're out to destroy Trump. And anytime [00:01:57] we look at what y'all did, you know, [00:01:59] we're I guess a bunch of crooks. Now, [00:02:01] let's talk about me and enrichment. [00:02:06] the Democratic majority uh Senate [00:02:09] leader, Senator Schumer, [00:02:13] signed off on this. So, I want the world [00:02:16] to know, and the world's paying no [00:02:18] attention because it's blowing up right [00:02:20] now, that this provision was coordinated [00:02:24] between Senator Thun and Schumer because [00:02:26] a lot of people worried that they can do [00:02:28] it to Republicans and maybe they'll do [00:02:30] it to Democrat. So, the idea that eight [00:02:33] of us cooked something up [00:02:36] is ridiculous. [00:02:38] We talked to your Democratic leadership. [00:02:40] The fact they didn't talk to you is your [00:02:42] problem with them. Now, what happened? [00:02:48] We sent to the ethics committee what [00:02:50] we're doing and they didn't send [00:02:52] anything back. [00:02:54] Now, they have. So, the bottom line is, [00:02:58] Mr. President, this provision [00:03:01] was a result of we're not going to take [00:03:04] it anymore. The law was flagrantly [00:03:07] violated, I believe. But he's already [00:03:10] made a decision. [00:03:12] Senator Peter says that Jack Smith was [00:03:15] lawfully in the right here. [00:03:19] We'll have a hearing. He's already [00:03:21] decided that Jack Smith was right. [00:03:25] Right. To find my phone records based on [00:03:29] what? Being a friend of Trump. I will [00:03:32] take this to the court. And if your goal [00:03:34] is to intimidate me, boy, you don't know [00:03:37] anything about me. If your goal is to [00:03:40] try to cover up a valid inquiry and stop [00:03:45] Jack Smith from being looked at, it [00:03:48] ain't happening. I am more determined [00:03:50] than ever to find out how Arctic Frost [00:03:53] got so off the rails. [00:03:56] Within three days of Trump announcing, [00:04:00] "I'm going to run again," the process [00:04:02] started and within six months, he had 91 [00:04:05] felony charges in uh Manhattan, Atlanta, [00:04:09] Georgia, and Washington DC and and [00:04:11] Florida. I had to spend $1.2 $2 million [00:04:15] to go down to Georgia for the Fanny [00:04:18] Willis debacle. [00:04:21] So, this will be looked at. Was there a [00:04:24] coordinated effort between Jack Smith, [00:04:27] the special counsel, and the most [00:04:29] liberal jurisdictions in the country to [00:04:32] knock Trump out of the race by throwing [00:04:36] everything you could at him, whether it [00:04:38] made sense or not, and his friends. See, [00:04:40] I don't know, but we're going to find [00:04:42] this out. Senator Peters, we're moving [00:04:44] forward. You have made up your mind. If [00:04:47] it were up to you, we would not be [00:04:49] looking at Jack Smith. You made a [00:04:50] mistake there by defending somebody [00:04:53] where you have no idea actually what [00:04:54] they did. So, I think I pretty well know [00:04:57] where you're coming from. So, I object. [00:05:00] I object because we did it in [00:05:03] coordination with Democrats. I object [00:05:07] because we let the ethics committee [00:05:08] know. the House. The House did it [00:05:11] quickly. There's provisions in this bill [00:05:14] from the House that his amendment would [00:05:17] strip out. A notification requirement. [00:05:20] Every member should want to be notified [00:05:23] if anybody on e in the government [00:05:26] executive branch is looking at your [00:05:28] phone records. [00:05:29] He this provision would strip that out. [00:05:33] A private cause of action would strip it [00:05:35] out. I live in America. We all live in [00:05:38] America. If you cannot hold your [00:05:40] government accountable for violating [00:05:42] your rights or potentially violating [00:05:44] your rights, you have a very dangerous [00:05:46] government. I am no better than anybody [00:05:48] else, but I'm certainly hell's no worse [00:05:50] than anybody else. So, I want to know [00:05:52] why [00:05:54] the government [00:05:57] issued a subpoena [00:05:59] saying uh made a subpoena request that [00:06:02] if you tell me about what's going on [00:06:04] here that I'm likely to [00:06:08] taint the witnesses and act irrespons. [00:06:13] What have I ever done as a sinner to [00:06:16] make you think that's me? There was no [00:06:18] factual foundation that I would do [00:06:20] anything illegal if you told me. I did [00:06:23] nothing illegal except be Trump's [00:06:26] friend. Apparently, I inquired as to [00:06:29] whether or not I should vote to certify [00:06:31] the election on January 6th, and I did. [00:06:35] I did not know this happened, but if it [00:06:37] can happen to me, my colleagues over [00:06:38] there, it can happen to you. So, this [00:06:41] unanimous consent request would strip [00:06:44] the notification out. It would strip the [00:06:47] private cause of action out. I think [00:06:50] that's the wrong signal to send to a [00:06:53] government out of control. The private [00:06:55] cause of action, the $500,000 is tried [00:06:58] to deter people from doing this again. [00:07:02] The bottom line is [00:07:05] the private cause of action [00:07:09] needs to stay so that if anybody else in [00:07:11] the future gets hurt like this, a [00:07:13] private citizen, there are a bunch of [00:07:15] groups out there, Mr. President, all [00:07:17] conservative, who had their phone [00:07:18] records looked at, too. And we're not [00:07:21] going to give up no matter what Senator [00:07:22] Peter says. We're going to look at it. [00:07:24] Uh, Turning Point USA, there's a lot of [00:07:26] shenanigans going on out there with Jack [00:07:28] Smith, and we're going to look at it [00:07:30] whether you want us to or not. And I [00:07:32] hope they can sue. But as to me, I'm a [00:07:35] senator. If this provision, [00:07:38] the private cause of action, is seen out [00:07:41] of line what we the Senate rules now, I [00:07:45] will gladly fix that. [00:07:47] And you're off base if you think I'm [00:07:50] doing this for a million dollars. I'm [00:07:52] going to sue for much more than that. [00:07:55] Not just to try to [00:07:59] make my life whole, [00:08:02] to make people pay for trying to under, [00:08:06] you know, forget my phone records for [00:08:08] God's sakes. [00:08:11] That that will be in court. I'll have to [00:08:13] prove that. So, I'll make sure and I'll [00:08:17] have that just in a minute a provision [00:08:19] to change the pro the law so that [00:08:22] there's no doubt that I and the eight [00:08:24] others we won't get a benefit from the [00:08:26] $500,000. [00:08:28] It won't be personal, but we do want to [00:08:30] proceed with our case. And I want other [00:08:32] people to proceed with our with their [00:08:34] case. So, if you if we do this right [00:08:37] now, Turning Point USA, a bunch of other [00:08:39] groups would not have a private cause of [00:08:41] action. I want to preserve that private [00:08:43] cause of action for a lot of other [00:08:45] people who are not senators as to me. Uh [00:08:49] I don't know what you you're implying [00:08:52] that [00:08:53] I did something to benefit me [00:08:57] in the dark of night. [00:09:00] Yeah, I remember that. But life goes on. [00:09:03] So I object. I object to what you're [00:09:06] doing. I object to the fact that you [00:09:09] think Jack Smith was legal when you have [00:09:11] no idea what he did. [00:09:15] I object. [00:09:18] >> The objection is heard. [00:09:19] >> Uh, [00:09:21] >> South Carolina. [00:09:22] >> Where's my amendment at? [00:09:27] [clears throat] [00:09:28] >> Okay. Therefore, [00:09:32] >> therefore, I ask unanimous consent [00:09:36] that the consent be modified to include [00:09:38] adoption of my substitute amendment [00:09:41] which is at the desk. [00:09:44] So, um objections heard. Uh [00:09:50] here's what the ethics committee said [00:09:52] about my proposal, my modification [00:09:58] that the amendment cures the Senate 37.4 [00:10:02] issue [00:10:04] previously identified in letter sent to [00:10:08] you. So, I asked the ethics committee, [00:10:12] "Will this amendment cure any concerns [00:10:15] that people have about this provision [00:10:18] regarding me or any other senator?" [00:10:21] It does. So, if that's what you want to [00:10:23] do, I think we fixed it. However, [00:10:28] with all due respect to my colleague, [00:10:32] I'm never going to agree to drop the [00:10:35] notification requirement. I've had a ton [00:10:39] of House members say, "Please don't do [00:10:41] that." All of us here should want to be [00:10:45] notified if some executive branch is [00:10:49] looking at our phone records. [00:10:52] So that's that that would be terrible. [00:10:56] The private cause of action goes away. [00:10:59] I'm never going to agree to drop that. [00:11:02] Why? There are a bunch of people caught [00:11:04] up in Jack Smith that are not senators [00:11:06] that may have a cause of action and they [00:11:09] deserve their day in court. As to my [00:11:12] cause of action under the statute, I'm [00:11:14] going to pursue it, but in a way that's [00:11:17] compliant with the Senate rules. And I [00:11:19] just want to put everybody on notice. [00:11:21] The statute is just one avenue to find [00:11:24] out what happened. There'll be other [00:11:26] I'll go to the phone company. I'll sue [00:11:29] Jack Smith's Biden's DOJ. That's where [00:11:32] I'm headed. But I'll do it in a fashion [00:11:35] consistent with the rules of the Senate. [00:11:37] But I'm not going to drop the private [00:11:40] right of action because there are a [00:11:41] bunch of people out there other than me. [00:11:45] Uh I I think the notification [00:11:47] requirement given the environment in [00:11:49] which we're all living in [laughter] [00:11:51] know whether you're Republican or [00:11:53] Democrat. I think we need to be notified [00:11:55] if the executive branch is um maybe [00:11:58] doing something they shouldn't do. So, I [00:12:00] look forward to working with you. I [00:12:02] appreciate we end this thing the way we [00:12:04] we've ended it and I will be pursuing my [00:12:07] legal rights consistent with the the [00:12:10] ethics of the Senate and um maybe we can [00:12:13] work something out. Uh but Senator [00:12:18] Peters, [00:12:19] we live in pretty dangerous times now [00:12:21] and I can see it going bad on our side, [00:12:24] your side. We need to protect these [00:12:26] institutions the best we can. from um [00:12:31] things that may come our way. Uh it's me [00:12:33] today, it could be y'all tomorrow. And I [00:12:36] love the institution. [00:12:38] People want to change the rules, you [00:12:40] know, to make it the house. I don't. So, [00:12:43] thank you very much. Um